Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United squad hosted an open training session at Carrington on Wednesday afternoon and one injured star was spotted taking the next steps in his recovery.
Manchester United host Athletic Club in the second-leg of their Europa League semi-final this week with a spot in the final within touching distance.
Ruben Amorim’s side won 3-0 away from home in the first-leg last week and return to Old Trafford with a clear advantage over their Spanish opponents.
The prospect of winning the Europa League is so important to the Reds, who have had a disgraceful domestic campaign. They can still qualify for the Champions League next term if they win the final.
Ahead of the second-leg clash, Amorim’s side were working hard at Carrington, with Noussair Mazraoui returning to the squad after being rested on the weekend.
Matthijs de Ligt was absent from the session after suffering an injury setback against Brentford, joining several other Reds on the treatment table.
United fans excited as Heaven spotted at Carrington
Ayden Heaven is among that group of players unavailable for selection right now. The young defender suffered what looked to be a long-term injury against Leicester City in March.
Thankfully, that was not as serious as initially anticipated and he returned to the squad the following month. However, the 18-year-old has since picked up another small injury.
There haven’t been too many updates on Heaven’s recovery, although he was spotted doing some individual work on the grass at Carrington during Wednesday’s session.
United fans were delighted to see the youngster take that next step and are hoping to see him back in action with the first-team soon.
“Good news. Hope to see him before the end of the season,” one fan wrote on social media.
Another posted: “At least he’s training I thought the way he came off he’d of been out for at least 6 months.”
“Big season next season my boy,” a third supporter added.
Heaven will push for minutes next season
It seems unlikely that Heaven will get many more minutes before the end of the season. He might be able to feature in the final game of the season against Aston Villa.
But the future looks bright for the ex-Arsenal defender, who impressed fans so much before he suffered that injury against Leicester. The defender earned praise from club legend Wayne Rooney, who labelled him as “fantastic”.
His calmness in possession and reading of the game looked strong and he will certainly be pushing for more minutes next term.
After spending less than £2 million on the teenager, United will certainly be looking to try and find similar deals to the Heaven one when the summer transfer window opens.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.